48990: The ruling on giving the adhaan from the radio

What is the ruling on giving the adhaan from the radio, i.e., when the time for the adhaan comes, a person turns on the radio and puts it in front of the microphone, instead of the muezzin giving the call himself?.

Praise be to Allaah.

If the adhaan is given from a cassette recorder, or from the
radio, or from one place and conveyed by mechanical means to other mosques,
this is an innovation (bid’ah).

The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:

Is the adhaan Sunnah for the prescribed obligatory prayers,
and what is the ruling on giving it from a cassette recorder if there is no
muezzin who can do it properly?

They replied:

The adhaan is fard kifaayah (a communal obligation), in
addition to it being an announcement that the time for prayer has begun and
an invitation to come and pray. It is not sufficient to play a recording of
the adhaan when the time for prayer comes. The Muslims in all areas in which
regular prayer is established have to appoint one of their number who can do
it properly when the time for prayer begins.

I have heard that some people in Muslim countries record the
adhaan from the Two Holy Sanctuaries and broadcast that by loudspeaker
instead of the muezzin giving the adhaan. Is the prayer permissible (if this
is done)? Please quote evidence from the Qur’aan and Sunnah, with simple
commentary.

They replied:

It is not sufficient for
the adhaan which is prescribed for the obligatory prayers to be given by
means of a tape on which the adhaan is recorded. Rather the muezzin has to
give the call to prayer himself, because it was proven that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded that the adhaan be
given, and the basic principle concerning a command is that it is
obligatory.

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
6/66, 67

The Islamic Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League issued a
statement, during its ninth conference in Makkah al-Mukarramah in 1406 AH,
as follows:

Broadcasting the adhaan from the mosques when the time for
prayer begins by means of a recorder and the like is not sufficient and is
not permissible with regard to this act of worship. This does not count as
the proper adhaan as prescribed in sharee’ah. The Muslims must give the
adhaan directly for each and every time of prayer, in each mosque, in the
manner that has been passed down from generation to generation among the
Muslims from the time of our Prophet and Messenger Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) until the present.